Photo by Lauri Santavuori

It is obvious that an update of the 41-year-old Archipelago Law is necessary, although its spirit is still particularly relevant. A living archipelago and the preservation of its completely unique nature is a matter of honor for all of Finland.

The archipelago types are unique in the world!

Finland’s islands, which are a bilingual national organization intended primarily for residents of Finland’s archipelago areas both on the coast and in the lake area, have submitted the following comments to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry about the draft assessment premium (Archipelago Act):

Paragraph 4: Supporting the business community

An improvement in data communication connectivity increases the opportunities for remote work and improves the conditions for business operations. When a commercial interest in the expansion of fast connections is missing in the archipelago, increased social support is needed for this expansion.

The archipelago should be equated to other sparrow buildings in terms of special support.

Paragraph 5: Traffic and transport service

Traffic should primarily take into account the primary needs of the permanent resident population for functioning communications, but also maintain other living conditions in the archipelago. Flexible communications are also needed for business, part-time residents and tourists. Archipelago traffic should be duty-free or have reasonable fees. Travel chains for public transport both on land and at sea should be developed, also in view of a more sustainable social development.

The financing of the private cable ferries should get more attention. The principles of equality and accessibility should apply also to those who depend on and maintain private ferries. Your bl. a sustainability perspective, the ferries should be renewed in the next few years.

Paragraph 6: Basic and Special Service

The bus service should be secured and reachable within a reasonable distance of time, of course in both languages. Different modern forms of mobile solutions should be used, as a complement. In order to enable even remote service, the network connections (even the telephone connections! ) is improving considerably.

Paragraph 7: Government jobs

Although the number of government jobs has decreased significantly, digital development still allows for an increase in distance working in the archipelago. This development is creating entirely new conditions for living and working in the archipelago, and state authorities should consider this opportunity by encouraging remote work whenever possible.

Border security is for all archipelago residents and others staying in the area a very important security factor! Also, given recent security policy developments, the Armed Forces could possibly re-enter certain strategic areas along the coast where their presence had previously been reduced.

Paragraph 10: The economic position of the archipelago municipalities

The recipient of the so called. The archipelago supplement should be able to account in large numbers for the fact that the addition is used for the maintenance of service in the archipelago.

Paragraph 12: Environmental Protection Subsidy

In order to better preserve also culturally and historically valuable environments in the archipelago, a wider interpretation of the use of the contribution is needed.

Paragraph 14: The archipelago delegation

The archipelago delegation is very important in the work to promote positive archipelago development at the national level. The existence of the delegation is a recognition of the fact that the archipelago is of great importance to all of Finland.